Peter Jackson Update

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Why he's not directing The Hobbit and more mysteries from New Zealand.

By Scott Collura

In a story about Peter Jackson this week, The Hollywood Reporter has named the Lord of the Rings filmmaker and his partners Producers of the Year. Yadda, yadda, yadda, right? But in that article there are a few updates on the status of Jackson's upcoming slate of films. Check it:

Temeraire is mentioned, based on the fantasy novels by Naomi Novik that are set during the Napoleonic Wars and feature flying dragons. But then there's also Dam Busters, the World War II action drama about an English bomber pilot which the trade reports Jackson has put on the "back burner fearing it might be 'too English.'" His team has already built a dozen replica bombers, though, and he still apparently plans on getting the film made at some point as THR specifies that he says he will produce but not direct -- and wants to shoot in 3-D.

The Tintin film which Jackson is making with Steven Spielberg is also discussed.

"Steven was contemplating doing Tintin himself, or maybe with another filmmaker," Jackson's rep Ken Kamins says. "He had reached out to Peter in 2005 and asked if WETA could do a visual effects test of Snowy the Dog. So Peter prepared that test -- and Peter himself played Capt. Haddock. He sent the test to Steven and Steven was very excited about it. In January 2006, Steven and Peter met. They agreed to become full and equal partners in the franchise, with an agreement that Peter would produce Steven along with Kathleen Kennedy, and reverse roles on the second film."

Jackson will spend the next year producing Tintin and the two Hobbit films, meaning he won't direct again before the end of 2010. The trade paper also notes that the filmmaker did consider directing the Lord of the Rings prequels before giving them over to Guillermo del Toro to helm.

"He came to the conclusion that, if he directed, those two films were absolutely going to be compared to his three [Rings] films," Kamins says. "And if they didn't gross what his three had grossed, somehow these movies would be less. He felt there was another way to maintain his relationship with the franchise and yet take a half-step back. That was to find another filmmaker who would add his signature. … Peter's job is to make sure the five films together represent a single canon of Middle-earth history."